Former Indian batter Abhishek Nayar has warned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) against handing Jasprit Bumrah captaincy in all formats citing the fact that the star pacer shouldn’t be overburdened. The comments from Nayar came after former India wicketkeeper batter Kiran More said that Bumrah would make a good captain across all three formats.
Bumrah made his T20I captaincy bow on Friday, leading India to a 2-run win over Ireland in the series opener. Due to rain, India won the game by DLS method and are now leading the series 1-0.
Speaking about Bumrah’s captaincy instincts both Nayar and More lauded the 29-year-old however, the former stated that captaincy might impact the pacer’s fitness even more, and thus India should avoid giving full-time captaincy to Jasprit.
Current India skipper Rohit Sharma had stated that Bumrah, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were among the player who were being groomed as future leaders. The star pacer led India in the rescheduled fifth Test against England last year, but Nayar gave the example of Pat Cummins to cite why it’s important to keep Jasprit fit for the major tournaments. He insisted that Jasprit Bumrah the player is more important for India than Bumrah the captain.
“He has to be given captaincy. He is a good thinker of the game. He is a potential future captain in Test cricket, across all formats as well. I have always believed fast bowlers make good captains,” said More after India’s win over Ireland in Dublin.
Nayar though insisted otherwise, given Bumrah’s recent track record with injuries, as he almost nearly missed out on the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, due to his back issues.
“It depends on his fitness. For a fast bowler to lead, we saw that with Pat Cummins in the Ashes. I think for you to bowl, play all formats and then lead, it can sometimes be a bit taxing, which is why we see batters taking over the mantle,” said Nayar.
“You can’t have Jasprit Bumrah get injured in the process of doing that. For T20Is, makes sense. For longer formats makes sense but I would just say ‘save him and keep him for important tournaments’ and make sure we don’t overburden him and overuse him. Let him enjoy his game because captaincy doesn’t let you enjoy your game,” Nayar added.
The star pacer only just returned to full fitness having last played for India in September last year. Bumrah thus missed out on the T20 World Cup last year, and the IPL 2023 edition, meaning he is likely to be wrapped in cotton wool up until the ODI World Cup later this year.
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